


The Wayfarer: An Oxventure Tale

by tnnyoh



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-05-12 02:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19220107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: After the events of The Miserable Manor and Royal State of Mind, Corazon heads off on his own to a mysterious island, but he can't remember how he got there, or why he even came. He struggles to regain his memory while dealing with cryptic voices and strange creatures that seem obsessed with trying to kill him.





	1. Where is He?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct sequel to The Miserable Manor and Royal State of Mind, so if you haven't read those, you may be confused!

The first thing he noticed was the blood, the second thing he noticed was that it wasn’t his.  He was face down in the mud and saw corpses interspersed with bones, near and far.

“Hello?” he called out, but was met with only silence, and the silence was deafening.  He pushed his hands into the mud in the hopes that he’d be able to steady himself to stand but he fell back down, mud all over his clothes and boots, he tried again.

It was only when he stood up that he heard it.

_Turn back_

He whipped around to find the source of the voice, but there was nothing and nobody near him except for the corpses.

_You’re not supposed to be here_

_You’re not allowed to be here_

_Turn back_

The voices seemed to overlap as if many people were speaking the same words, over and over again he could hear them, but he couldn’t see them.

_Do you think he can hear us_

_Do you think he knows we’re here_

“I can hear you!” he shouted at the entities, still searching for the place they may be

_Do you think he’s scared_

_He’s always scared_

_What a coward_

“I can hear you! I said I can hear you!” He whipped around again, nothing but bodies, nothing but mud.

“Where am I?”

The surrounding trees began to sway in a sudden gust of wind, the setting sun was burning off it’s final brilliant shades before resting for another yet. Everything was dimming, and he heard the whispers again.  Or was it the wind?

_He’s unsure_

_He’s scared_

_We can’t help him_

_We wouldn’t anyway_

He had no idea where he was, or where the voices were coming from but he knew that if he wanted to survive the night he would need to find a way out of here and maybe get back to his boat.

_Do you think he forgot_

_He doesn’t remember_

_He’s lost his mind_

“You’re doing a lot of talking and not a lot of helping me find a way out of here to safety”

_Up ahead, there’s a path_

_Take the path_

He looked ahead of him and saw that through the trees there was a subtle path, was he on an island or was he inland? He couldn’t tell. Where were the others? Where was his ship?

_Should we tell him?_

_What’s the point?_

_He won’t survive this_

He made his way up ahead, pushing through the thick brush and struggling to stay upright on the slippery mud, when he was finally through the clearing he saw it, his ship out on the water, but it was leaving.

He shouted after it as loud as he could, he even flailed his arms in the hopes that whoever was on his ship would see him, but nobody did.

_He’s alone now_

_They left without him_

“You don’t have to narrate _everything_ I do”

_We should tell him_

_You’re lost_

“No shit” he said sarcastically, the wind was starting to pick up and he felt a chill creeping up the back of his neck, he pulled his coat closer around him and sat on the edge of a large jagged rock.

“How did I get here?”

_You don’t remember?_

_He doesn’t remember_

_We should tell him_

_He’ll never survive this_

Though he knew the voices did not belong to any physical sources, he still tried to look around to find them, unwilling to believe he was hearing them in his own head.

_We are not imaginary_

_Not a creation of the mind_

_We are with, not in._

“Can you maybe be less cryptic? How the hell did I end up here?” He looked around, there were other smaller islands dotted around his vision as far as he could see, and other ships coming to or leaving from those islands.

_You made a mistake_

_You came alone_

“To this island? Why would I do that?”

_You are afraid_

_He’s afraid_

_He’s a coward_

There was something in the back of his mind, a memory that he couldn’t quite grasp onto, the reason for his coming here, the reason for his ship leaving without him.

But what was it?

_We will help you where we can_

_But you’re going to need a miracle_

_You are not worth the effort_

He pulled his hat lower on his head to cover his ears which were being chilled by the cold wind, slowly rain started to fall from the sky, and the pink hues gave way to a pale and muted gray, and then finally deep dark blues.

“Where is everyone?”

_They left_

_You_


	2. Who is He?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting to survive on the island, Corazon is also fighting to remember why he came there in the first place.

Hours had passed and the night sky almost taunted him with clouds that covered the stars, his only way to truly tell where he was.  He groaned uncomfortably as his stomach growled.

He hadn’t eaten in some time and was starting to feel the effects, his body was weak and his head was thumping.

He sighed and kicked against the ground from where he sat, on a large rock in the dark that overlooked the water. “Who are you?” he asked aloud, the voices had stopped speaking some time after The Joyful Damnation had left, but he knew they were still.

He had time to think about what they were, maybe they were spirits that were tied to this island, or tied to him somehow.

_He’s right  
_

_But it doesn’t matter, he’s going to die here_

“I will die if I don’t get something to eat”

_Fight, survive_

“You want me to _hunt_?” He asked “No, I don’t do that kind of stuff, Merilwen’s the one who does that.”

_She’s not here_

_She’s gone_

_She’s left_

_She was never here_

He pushed himself off the rock, pulling his cloak tighter around his shoulders to stave off the chill that had come with the night, where would he sleep? He was reminded of the times he spent on his own after that night, the night his former crew were cursed and he turned his back on all of them out of-

_Fear_

_He was afraid  
_

_He is_

The voices spoke as if they were having a conversation with themselves and not each other, not even waiting until one finished speaking before they had another thing to say.  Another cryptic nonsensical riddle of a sentence that gave him a headache and made him even more weary.

Why was he so tired? He wracked his brain to try to remember what happened, again the flickers of a memory that he couldn’t grasp onto flashed through his mind.

_It all leads to this  
_

_Do you think he realizes?_

_No, no he doesn’t_

_He does, he knows. Somewhere._

“Is this some kind of… is this some sort of metaphor for guilt or something?” He asked “Because I don’t feel guilty about Curly Joe and the others. I don’t feel that at all”

_Liar_

_Is he saying they deserved it  
_

_He knows he wasn’t good enough_

_He can’t even admit it_

“There’s nothing to admit, that’s why” He said angrily at the nothingness. He crossed his arms. The wind whipped his hair around, if he were wearing a hat it would have blown away, lost at sea.

Perhaps he was lost at sea somehow as well.

As the darkness became more painfully dark around him, and the night air stung his skin and his thoughts turned to food, how would he find it?

He walked around in the dark for a while, his eyes eventually adjusting to the maddening night, though not enough for him to see without squinting, he carefully made his way back to where he woke up, he steeled himself for what he was about to do.  

He knelt down and started feeling around the corpses, strange and cold, eventually he found a torch on one of the bodies.  

“Yes!” He shouted

Now to light it, But how?

He had nothing on him, no normal way to light a fire, no magical ingredients to help him with a spell.

The solution hit him, but he’d have to do it all in the dark, meaning he would have to continue to feel around. He spent a while feeling around in the dark, the moon was hanging just out of reach, barely bleeding through the blanket of trees that encased him in a near pitch black state.

He was able to locate two stones on the ground and found a spot on the ground to sit. For a while he simply sat there smacking one rock against the other, the sound was almost deafening to him, he had been in silence so long, not even the entities were speaking anymore.

The grass beneath him was too moist and it was soaking through his trouser legs and making his skin uncomfortably cold, he shuffled around on his hands and knees feeling around for a dryer spot, and something that would spark a flame. He didn’t know how long he was at it but by the time he found a spot with dry grass, his clothes were covered in mud and he felt stinging scratches all over his legs and arms.

“Shit” he said aloud, he couldn’t see it, but he could tell he ripped up his trousers and jacket.

He continued to try to get the rocks to start even a small spark, to help him, to give him a small bit of hope that he wasn’t alone, that he wasn’t trapped here on this island for all time, with no company but the voices of people he couldn’t see.

“Please” he said, begging the fire to start, almost pleading with it. It was starting to rain a little bit, and yet he continued to try to light a fire. His stomach was churning with hunger, and he continued to try to light a fire.

After some time, a tiny spark ignited the dry grass and started a small fire in front of him, he lit the torch off of the small fire and pushed himself to his feet.

He had to blink a few times to get used to the light after hours spent in the dark, but it was a comforting sight, finally it felt like he had some hope.

_You won’t survive this_

_He’s fooling himself_

_What is he doing here?_

_He knows why he is here_

He had spent so much of his time during the evening and night silent, he had no idea what time it should have been, after midnight for certain, he cleared his throat slightly and walked forward, bathing the area in the light from his torch and trying not to feel uneasy as the shadows in the spaces the light didn’t reach seemed to get darker.

_Do you think he can hear us_

_He’s not listening_

_He’s avoiding it_

_He knows what he did_

“I can hear you, I can still hear you!” He yelled, breaking the silence of the night and then realizing he was speaking to no one, he quickly shut up and moved forward at a slower pace, the wind whipping at the back of his neck, he was worried it would blow out his torch.

“Where am I?”

_He’s lost_

_He won’t make it back_

“I’m speaking to you!” He shouted again, he was tired of not getting the answers he needed, he knew he forgot the reason he came here and he wanted to know, he wanted to remember.

_We cannot help you, Percival._

“Can’t or won’t?”

_Can you help yourself?_

_I don’t think so_

He stopped walking to look around him, the sprinkles of rain had let up and he could no longer hear the trickling sound of it falling off the leaves of nearby plants. He swished the torch through the air angrily.

“I’m tired of the vague bullshit, answer me!”

As he expected, there was no response, just silence broken only by the crunch of his boots against the occasional dry leaf.  He sat down on the ground against a low cobblestone wall, tired, hungry and alone. He tried to fight the heaviness of his eyes but they won out, and he fell asleep.

Do you think he knows?

Do you think he’ll realize?

He knows _why_ he’s here, he came here.

* * *

He awoke the next morning to find a small animal staring at him, it’s wide eyes filled with innocence, it looked like a baby tiger or something.

The tiny animal made a small squeak as he opened his eyes, he realized too late that he had startled it and reached out his hand to try to calm the animal.

If there was one thing the others didn’t know about him, because he never talked about it was his affinity for calming animals. He had done it enough when he was younger and the horses were spooked. Maybe his manor had been haunted?

_The manor_

“Hey buddy” he said gently to the cat, it’s eyes were wide and it paused in it’s backing away, as if it were reconsidering the action.

_What is he doing_

He extended his hand a bit more, prompting the tiny animal to come closer and rub it’s tiny head against his wrist.

“What are you doing all the way out here?” he asked the cat, the cat looked up at him and let out a tiny meow. He remembered Merilwen’s delighted squeal whenever she saw a very cute animal.  

“I know someone who would absolutely _lose_ it if she saw you” He told the small animal “Her name is Merilwen” the cat tilted it’s head and meowed again.

“She’s a wood elf, she lived in places like this before she met me and my friends”

As he thought about it, he didn’t really know a lot about Merilwen other than the fact that she loved animals and was quite fond of nature, but that seemed like the norm for wood elves such as herself.

_It’s always about him_

_He’s realizing it now_

“Hey!” He shouted out to the voices, unintentionally starting the cat and causing it to run off down a path to his left, he stood up “I’m getting a little tired of you… voices telling me that I’m a bad person”

_Don’t you agree that you are not good_

_You are selfish_

_Angry_

_He is angry_

“You’re damn right I’m angry!” he kicked at the dirt beneath his feet, it was moist with morning dew and felt a little slick, getting stuck to the underside of his boot. “I’m lost here in this strange place, I don’t remember how I got here, and I have arsehole voices talking in my ears who won’t answer any of my questions”

_So he wishes to know_

_He already knows_

_He **came** here_

“If I came here, why can’t remember it?”

_You do_

_He does_

_The silhouette, the moon shining down._

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

_You know, it is there_

_Dirt, wind, deafening, you forgot._

_You erased it._

_Magic_

_Your father_

He stood there in silence for a moment, the voices let him be as if whatever entities they belonged to thought silence would help him recall what they were alluding to but it didn’t, it just made him more uncertain.

He tried to remember, he spent most of the morning trying to remember, but the only thing he could remember was being on his ship, he didn’t remember sailing here, and he didn’t remember the last time he saw the others.

“Am I dead?” He asked after hours of not speaking “Is that the thing that’s happening here?”

There was a deafening laugh in his ear which made him spin around to face whoever or whatever it was, it was so close that could have sworn he felt a breath on his skin.

“If I’m not dead, what’s going on? What’s with all the dead bodies back there?”

_Focus_

_He needs to focus_

_You need to think_

_Bottles._

“What? Like alcohol?”

_Imagine that, he got one right._

_Remember the alcohol_

He thought for a minute and vaguely recalled himself sitting on his ship surrounded by bottles, laughing about something, it was after he had done something… What had he done?

_You wrote a letter_

That’s right! He remembered it now, he had been writing a letter to someone, he forgot who it was, it seemed important at the time, but who was it for?

The hours passed as he searched for food, for water, for any better shelter, and sometimes he would take a short break to search for any clues as to what happened, where he was and why he was all alone.

How long had he been on that small island, lost and uncertain? He couldn’t possibly know, his pocket watch long lost with everything else, his tools, his weapons, everything that made him who he was.

_That’s sad_

_You think only your objects make you a pirate_

“Isn’t it true though?” He asked “I mean… nobody would take me seriously if I didn’t have those things”

_Nobody takes you seriously now_

“Wow, alright. Screw you voices”

The wind carried a smell of burning wood on it, he thought that maybe somebody in the distance, possibly on one of the other islands was starting a fire, if that were true he needed to try to get their attention, he needed to find somebody else so he knew he wasn’t alone.

Maybe they even had food, and water, and the fire could be used to signal someone else to help them get out of here.

He stood at the edge of the island and stared out at the water that evening, the sun was just sinking below the horizon and the hot air was starting to give way to a cooler breeze, he judged the distance of the island where he could see a billowing pillar of smoke climbing up into the air. If he had his spyglass he would be able to see if there were people on that island, but alas, his spyglass wasn’t with him.

The only way to know for sure would be to swim over the distance to the next island, but he hadn’t eaten in a very long time, and with no energy, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it.

“Meow” said a tiny voice behind him

He turned around and spotted the little kitten that was startled off earlier, it had something in it’s mouth that it dropped at his feet, he bent down to see what it was, a little note that was folded up and had one sentence on it.

“You did this”

“Did what?” He asked aloud, the cat simply meowed. He looked at the cat for a minute, there was something about it that was familiar.

_Do you realize it now?_

_Put it together_

_It’s about him_

“You said something about my father?” He asked

_Your father…_

_The one who the blame should fall on._

“The blame for what?”

_Think about it, Percival_

He sat on the bank of the island that night, the cat was curled up beside him and he was in the dark, being unable to relight the torch, he tried to think about what the voices were saying, to piece together the puzzle they refused to help him with.

“If you know, why won’t you tell me?” He asked

There was no response, it seemed like they only spoke when they felt like it, and not when he directly addressed them. The cat meowed to get his attention, and when he looked at it, it tilted it’s tiny head “Meow”

“What?” He asked “I don’t suppose _you_ know anything about this nonsense?”

“Meow”

“Didn’t think so”

He let the cat climb up into his lap and fall asleep there, he himself leaned back on the beach, his head touching the sand. Ugh, his hair was going to be a mess.

_Remember that_

“Please tell me what the hell I’m doing here”

_No. you don’t remember it._

“Then give me a fucking hint, yeah?”

_Swords_

_He made swords_


	3. Who Are They

He wiped the sweat off his forehead as he sat there underneath the painfully hot sun, he was still sitting in the same spot he had been the previous night, but the cat had left sometime before he had awoken.

 He could still see a plume of smoke across the distance, if only there was a way for him to build a boat out of something and get over there, but he had nothing around him except grass and rocks.

After several days without eating, it became easier to ignore his hunger, it became a constant companion but not as noticeable as it was previously.  He ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the choppiness in the back.

_It’s him_

He sighed and rose from his space on the grass “Is it time for this now?”

_Please remember who_

“Maybe if you just tell me instead of calling me an idiot for not remembering”

In the momentary silence he heard the squawk of a bird returning to it’s nest in the treetops, and felt the light breeze against his sin. The sun was quickly hidden behind a cloud cover, and the temperature started to lower considerably. It would have concerned him if he wasn’t so relieved that the heat was broken and he could breathe again.

_He made swords_

“I don’t know anyone who made swords, I have no idea who you’re talking about”

_You saw him_

“I see a lot of people, mate, doesn’t mean I’m going to remember them”

_Tobias saw him_

He stopped, a vague memory coming back slowly, like the trickle of honey, and then it hit him all at once. The manor, the chase, and _him_.

“Edwin.”

_He made swords, he made daggers_

_and then a dagger killed him_

The memories came back, vividly and loudly. He recalled Tobias standing there in the manor with a smug look on his face as a man bled to death on the floor. And it was his fault, not Tobias… it was he who gave him the weapon.

_You killed him_

“Is that why I’m here?”

_Finally._

He looked down at his boots “Why did I forget?”

The wind caused the trees to loudly rustle above him, and he could hear the crashing of the waves in the water behind him, but all he could hear was voices of strange entities that refused to reveal themselves.

_Guilt_

_Please don’t listen to them_

_They aren’t truthful_

_They are lying_

“What?”

_He did it, he killed him_

_No he didn’t_

_He didn’t_

_He wasn’t responsible_

He tried to ignore the voices but they were so loud and their argument was giving him a headache, who were these people? If they were even people at all.

He went out in search of the cat, who had become his only companion in the last day, he wasn’t sure how long he had even been here, but he knew that somehow he had to get off this island.

But what if he didn’t deserve to? He obviously came here for a reason, and if it had to do with what happened in the manor…

_You did not kill him_

_It is not your fault_

“Are you… helping me or judging me?”

_They judge what they do not know, what they cannot see._

_But I, I can see._

“What makes you so special?”

_I was there_

The words froze him in place and he felt an uncomfortable chill throughout his body.

_Do you remember when you did not remember._

_I was there_

_The man who made the blades_

_And I am here to warn you_

_“_ Warn me? About what?”

_There is something coming for you, for all of you._

 

* * *

He woke up with a start, he was back at the spot he had been before with the corpses, only now there was a lit fire there, which was roaring in front of him, the heat rolling off of it in waves and making him quite uncomfortable.

  _Face your fear_

He looked around, it was a part of his nature he was unable to fight, he was a simple person, if he heard a voice or a noise, he would instinctively want to know where it was coming from.

He didn’t think that made him a coward.

_Asylum_

“What are you talking about?”

_The asylum_

It seemed like the evening had just come on as he could still see specks of sun and bright colors in the distant sky, how was he moved when he was unconscious? And what caused him to become unconscious in the first place?

The questions made him shiver and rub at his arms, and it was then that he heard it, a faint singing in the distance. the echoing voice of a woman. He ran to the edge of the water once more, the smoke from across the small island was once more rising into the air.

He knew now that there was someone there, he jumped into the water and started swimming as fast as he possibly could towards the other island, the distance was quite noticeable and he soon realized he made a terrible mistake as the chill in the air was making the water even colder, but he had to get over to this person, he was so happy to know there was someone else here.  That he wasn’t alone.

He got to shore, it felt like he had been in the water for hours but he knew it was much less time. He crawled onto the bank of the new island and coughed as the smoke from the bonfire went up his nose. The girl stopped singing and looked at him with wide eyes.

“It’s you” she said

“I.. I didn’t think there was anyone else here, I thought I was alone”

“Look, whatever you’re thinking…” She started “You have to stop, they’ll know because they are inside your head”

He got to his feet and approached the fire, slowly sitting across from her, she was a girl with long brown hair that looked as though she had gotten mud in it and let it dry out.  Her eyes with an ethereally shade of green and she had a cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

“Who are you?”

“Nobody you need to know, don’t play their games” She said

“I’m going to need a little more to go on than that”

“Your name is Percy, right? That’s what the voices are telling me”

“Actually-”

_DO NOT LIE ABOUT WHO YOU ARE PERCIVAL_

The girl and him looked around and then back at each other

“You heard that?”

She nodded “Looks like you made mommy and daddy mad”

“How long have you been here?”

She closed her eyes as if she was trying to recall a moment she wasn’t on this small patch of land, afraid and alone.

“I don’t remember, after a while you stop remembering where you came from, who you were”

“I already did that before I came here” he gave her a look “Did the voices say anything else to you about me?”

“They said your greatest wish is to impress a man who hates you”

“That’s… not”

She shrugged “It doesn’t matter to me why you are here”

He sat down on the sand in front of the fire “That isn’t my greatest wish”

_WHY ARE YOU LYING PERCIVAL_

He rolled his eyes and groaned loudly “Shut up!” He looked at the girl “My name is Corazón de Ballena, I’m the captain of a pirate ship.”

“I’m Iris, I think I used to be someone important. Maybe a count’s daughter? I remember parties”

“I was Percival Milquetoast before I ran away”

She looked at him “I know that name!” She then frowned and looked away “But I can’t remember why”

There was a gust of wind that threatened to blow out the fire, Corazón gathered up some sand from the beach and sprinkled it over the fire, watching the tiny embers coming from it.

“Why did you run away?” Iris asked after a while, watching him watch the fire

“Everyone thinks I’m this spoiled little rich child” He said “But I was just an outcast, an outcast in my society, in my own home, my own family.”

“I always dreamed of being something more, like… something cooler than a Lord’s son, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt more at home than I do on a ship”

“You’re a pirate?”

He smiled sadly and shrugged “Not really. I’m more of a liar…”

“All I hear about pirates is that they have ships and go on adventures, I think what’s more important is that you feel like you are. Do you?”

“Yeah but-”

She put her finger up and shushed him “You can be whoever you want, Percy” She gave him a smile “If you think you’re a pirate, you are”

He hesitated for a moment “But, what about the people who doubt me?”

“What about them?” She asked earnestly “They don’t get to have your experiences, they get to be jealous because they wish they could” She looked away from the fire “The voices told me that you were quite lonely”

“I mean, I don’t know where my friends are and I’m all alone here and-”

“That’s not what I meant. There are people who think you are wrong, that you are obnoxious, loud, brash, rude, selfish”

“You’re not making me feel better, you know?”

She shook her head “Those people are _wrong_ about you, I’ve only known you for less than ten minutes and you’ve already been nicer to me than anyone I can remember. Do those people not see the real you? Do they not even try?”

“The real me?”

“You just want people to like you, you want to be accepted and you want to _belong”_

_He is not a pirate_

_He is a fake_

_He is not strong enough_

_He has no knowledge_

“I don’t know if you’ve realized but the voices are… They echo something deep within ourselves, parts of ourselves we feel but we never show.” She reached out and dropped something into his hand “But I want you to know that the part of you that thinks you are not is wrong, I know what you are.”

He looked down at the small item in his hand for a split second, and by the time he looked back up, Iris was gone with no trace.

He looked back at his hand, there was a flat rock with a tiny inscription on it in some sort of runic language.  He brushed his fingers against it for a minute and focused, trying to understand what it was saying.

After a moment he realizes what the text says and he holds the rock in his hand tightly.

_The voices told me, they heard him say it._

_Your fathers voice_

_“My son is a pirate”_

 


	4. Are They Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of The Wayfarer, Keep your eyes open for Shipwrecked Sailor, another fanfic in this Oxventure series.

He was alone in front of the fire on the smaller island across from his own, the wind was blowing fairly hard and he was certain there was to be a storm. He was so focused on the way the sand turned to tiny embers and smoke when he put it in the fire.

 The rock Iris gave him was sitting beside him on the sand, he glanced at it.  There was a part of him that sometimes entertained the thought that he was wrong most of the time, that maybe all of this was in his head, that he wasn’t really disliked.

Maybe it was just his own perception, maybe he was projecting his own insecurities onto everyone around him and assuming that they hated him based on that.

But then he thought, what about his father?

It was hard to be excluded, it was hard to be friendless, to feel like you aren’t welcome by your peers, but it’s even worse when it’s someone who is supposed to care about you.  But that was how he grew up, and he desperately wanted a connection with his father, but he never got it.

“All I learned from my father” He said aloud “Was how to hate poor people”

He grabbed a nearby stick to poke at the fire with and cleared his throat, he felt a bit silly talking to himself, but he knew the voices were listening, and he spoke any way.

“I suppose when I was a child I didn’t realize how the world outside the manor was, I didn’t have a lot of friends, I… I’m lying, I didn’t have any friends.  I guess maybe my father’s friends and acquaintances had children that I would be around during special parties, or events.  But mostly I was alone”

_Did you hear him?_

_He was alone_

_He was lonely_

“I think there’s a possibility that my crew hates me, my old one did.   Why should this be any different? I..” He took a breath “I don’t know what it’s like to have friends, maybe I’m acting badly”

_You are a good friend_

“I can’t believe you would say something nice about me when most of what you say about me is bad, thanks disembodied voice. You’ve been a real nightmare” He said with a snarky smirk

“I suppose” He continued “I try too hard, maybe I am a bit obnoxious, but is that a bad thing? to just want people to like me and appreciate me for who I am? For people to not see me as a poser wannabe rich kid, but a real, flesh and blood pirate who is a real pirate and definitely not learning as he goes”

As he expected, rain started to fall from the sky and intrude on the fire, it was a light drizzle so he was able to keep the fire going by searching for some more firewood around the small island, he was able to find enough.  And when he sat back down the rain was letting up a bit.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever felt cooler than I did when Prudence and I jumped into that vat of magic at Leliana’s prison” He admitted “I felt like I could do anything, I felt like.. a badass,  I think, for the first time.”

The rain went from a light drizzle to a heavier fall but it seemed to avoid the fire altogether somehow, and it kept crackling on despite the suddenly intense rainfall.  “I know there’s a lot about me that people could think is bad, I’m loud because I want people to hear me, I’m brash because I want people to care… I know that I know how to fight, I can fight well, I trained enough to know that I’m great with swords and great in combat.”

“But, I just hide and I don’t know if it’s because I’m a coward or if it’s because I’m scared that maybe, just maybe I’m not as good as I think, or as good as I want to be. Everyone else is so much more powerful than I am, more magic, more skill.  Merilwen lived in the woods and survived the isolation that comes with that, Dob lived in the mountains and survived rabies even though that makes no sense,  Prudence had a horrible childhood and still managed to come out of it badass, I just lived in a manor with a father who was emotionally distant”

_NO COMPETITION_

_he thinks he isn’t allowed._

_He thinks he is wrong_

_Validation?_

_There are different forms of sadness._

_“_ Am I wrong?” He shrugged “It just seems like maybe I’ve been overreacting about my father all these years, I am the one that ran away after all.”

_He told you that he’d rather have you die_

_He was not a good man, I was wrong Percival._

“That’s not fair” He said “He tried, he did, I know he did…”

_No excuse_

_Did you hear him? He’s fighting with the child_

_He is not a child!_

“Edwin” Corazón said “Do you think that I am wrong about my father? Do you think that I just overreacted, do you think that anyone truly dislikes me, or…”

_He drove you away, you can be dramatic and right at the same time. You want to see the best in yourself, the parts that are not Percival Milquetoast, you boast about the best parts of who you want to be._

_The pirate, the wizard, the rogue._

_But accept yourself for who you were_

_You were not wrong._

_“_ Can it be that easy?” Corazón asked the empty air around him

Before he was able to hear a response there was an angry growl behind him, and a giant man who seemed to appear out of nowhere was holding a giant mace.

_WATCH OUT!_

He quickly rolled out of the way as the man took a swing into where he was sitting, crushing the rock beneath the weight of the mace.  He looked up at the man, he was taller than the tallest full-blood orc he had ever seen.   There was no way he could fight this man and survive.

_REMEMBER_

A thought struck him right then and there, he could bring down the man with a simple spell.  He stood up from his crouch and whistled, the dumb giant man looked his way with a stupid expression across his face.

“Hey idiot, do you like bacon?”

He tilted his head

“Eat this!” He watched as the giant tried to run forward and slipped, falling over onto his backside, Corazón grabbed a jagged rock from the ground at his feet and jumped onto the giant’s body and pressed the sharp rock against the man’s gigantic neck.

“I can’t kill you with this, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try”

_YOU CAN’T MAKE IT_

_YOU WON’T SURVIVE_

_“_ Hey assholes!” He shouted “I was a literal magical god once, I don’t need shit from you disembodied idiots!”

Suddenly the giant disappeared, the rain started to clear up and Corazón was back where he first woke up on the other island, but instead of corpses, he was surrounded by flowers.  A brilliant smell of lavender filled the air, the sun was out, and he couldn’t help but feel like it was a trap.

_There is nothing left_

_You are free_

“Wait, seriously? It’s that easy?”

_Tested_

“Why would you test me?”

_Leave_

_Leave_

_Leave_

“Edwin?” Corazón asked, pushing himself to his feet

_They are afraid of you, they set out to test you, to break you and they are afraid of you because they could not._

_You must watch out, there is something coming, and soon.  True tests never end._

Corazón looked over at the water, docked right against the island was his ship, The Joyful Damnation, trashed like he left it the night he bailed on his friends in Abelforth. He rushed towards the ship only to stop short of it and turn around. He was face to face with a woman, her hair long and black, and her eyes glowing.

 _You are leaving?_ She said without speaking, her voice was echoing instead in his head, and the fact that she was simply standing there without moving made him feel uneasy.

_He isn’t wrong you know, and I know what you are thinking._

_But it is not us_

_We are not after you_

_We tested, the test is over_

_Edwin’s words refer to a new test_

_Looming in the shadows_

“That doesn’t make me feel good” Corazón shrugged “I… I’m going to go now”

_Are you sure about that?_

“Wa…” before he could do anything, he was on the ground, his arms and legs tightly bound and held in place by braids of her long hair, which, unless he was mistaken was still connected to her head. 

He gagged and struggled against the strange mystical hair binds, but nothing would budge, so he started screaming, which seemed to infuriate the entity, and she also started screaming.

_THIS IS NOT OVER, THIS IS NOT HOW THIS ENDS._

He kicked out as her braids started to lift him high up in the air like they were the large tentacles of a sea monster.

_YOU, PERCIVAL, HAVE NO_

_FUTURE_

He took a breath and tried to focus, his struggling ceased and he felt oddly calm. “Fine, throw me in the sea” He said

_SARCASM IS UNWISE_

“Aw come on, I thought we were becoming friends!” He kicked out again, splitting some of the strands of hair in her braid, this would take forever if he tried to do it this way.  And then he had a thought..

Something only he could see appeared in front of him, a hand made of pure magical energy, he closed his eyes and a moment later heard the entity screaming, a screech that cut through the air and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The pain was enough to make her lose focus and she dropped him onto the ground.

He scrambled to his feet and brushed away the strands of hair that were still on his arm from her braid.  “Hey, idiot!’

He smirked and looked up, the hand grasped the top of her hair and pulled her into the air, she screamed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t defend myself?” He scoffed “You’ve been antagonizing me the entire time I’ve been here, and this is my _only_ demand, you let me go.”

_YOU SILLY MORTAL, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS COMING_

“I may be a mortal, but I’m a pretty powerful wizard”

She swatted away the magical hand and dropped back to her feet, her yellow eyes focused angrily on him, and then she started advancing on him, but slipped onto her back.

Corazón shook his head and carefully approached her through the grease trap “Still want to mess with me?” 

She gave him an angry look and her eyes flashed an intense orange, she tried to get up but he put his foot down on her arm “Not until you let me go”

_This_

_Isn’t_

“Over, I get it, I’m in big trouble.” He said sarcastically “But can I have my ship back now?”

_He didn’t listen_

_He didn’t listen_

_He didn’t listen_

_Run_

_Just Run, don’t look back._

Corazón looked over to the water and his ship, The Joyful Damnation was there, sitting in the water and everything around him was bright and warm, lit by the sun, it was the first time he felt normal the entire time he was on this island. The dark clouds over head were gone, and he no longer felt like he was being watched. _  
_

He looked back down at the woman and gasped at what he saw “Iris?”

 _I told you it wasn’t over._ She said, smiling and using her free arm to snap her fingers, and in that quick motion she disappeared.

_Run, Corazón, run!_

He turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could to the water, the sand was hot on the beach and the sun was getting in his eyes, but he finally made it to the ship and climbed up the ladder.  He saw the islands around him slowly start to disappear into nothingness.

_I will meet you again Percival_

He shuddered and made way for anchor, he undid the sails and set off, back to Abelforth, as the late evening sun reflected against the water.


End file.
